Titans of Justice Unlimited #12 – “While You Were Gone”
Written & edited by: Power Guy
Art by: The Stranger


***Note: This story takes place during the JSA/JLA/TOJ/LSH crossover.

The Hall of Justice…

“Dammit!” barked Nightvision as he purposely knocked his glass of water off the desk onto the floor.





“Dude, calm down,” requested the Silencer, trying to sooth his friend’s rage.





“Not until we find our friends!” snapped Nightvision. “This is the second time in our history that a group of Titans have vanished and I’m getting sick of it.”

Blackbird put her arm around Nightvision, “I don’t like seeing you like this. You’re not going to find your friends if you’re making mistakes due to anger now are you?”





Nightvision took a deep breath and realized Blackbird was right. “Ok, ok…I’ll try to relax.”

“They are not in the Universe of Evil,” revealed the approaching Stranger. “I have also checked with Dr. Fate of Earth 2 and they are not in his universe either.”





“And I have caroused earth’s mystical circles and none of earth’s mages seem to have a clue to the whereabouts of our friends,” the White Wraith said as he appeared from a puff of smoke. “I checked with the Justice Underground of Earth 3 and they have not seen any of our teammates either.”





“I have Zan and Jayna checking with various government leaders to see if any of them know anything about our friends’ disappearance,” advised the Stranger as he viewed the Trouble Alert.

“This is horrible timing with Power Guy and most of the others on another mission,” grumbled Nightvision. “I’m guessing that Chronos took Sonic Boom to another era of time being that she’s not on any of the other earths we’re aware of.”

“Hello gentlemen,” greeted Firebrand as she entered the room. “I got the emergency alert. What’s going on?”





“Firebrand!” Nightvision replied with a spark in his eye. In the midst of the chaos, he was happy to see someone with Firebrand’s experience answer the call for help. Of all of the Titans of Justice’s new additions, he was fond of her the most. As a child, he had researched all of the All-Star Squadron’s adventures, most specifically those of the Tarantula and Firebrand. For him to be working with this living legend gave him a certain sense of awe. “Several of our teammates are missing. Green Lantern, Sonic Boom, Sargona, Vigilante, Atmosphere, Lady Light, Wonder Man, Jemstone, and Nucleus all vanished earlier today without a trace.”

“That’s horrible!” exclaimed Firebrand. “What could have happened to them?”

“Whoever is responsible for this will most certainly pay,” Argos said, his fist clenched, as he stepped out of a newly opening Boom Tube, accompanied by his dog Sturmer.





“Friends, I must go. My wife and I are celebrating our anniversary tonight and I can’t be late,” the Strange said, excited. “Please contact me if you hear anything and I shall do the same.”

“Thanks for your help Stranger,” the Silencer said, lifting his head to acknowledge the departing mage.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this.” the Stranger replied, “We always do,” he said, stepping through the portal to the Ghost Zone.

“We could assume that Chronos is behind the rest of our team’s disappearance but it’s doubtful he could have taken down that many of our friends. Maybe I should go visit the Sting Ray,” Nightvision began, “She was behind the last Titans’ disappearance.”

Before Nightvision could make due with his plans, the Trouble Alert went off.

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!

“What villain is it this time Silencer?” Argos asked, turning to the nephew of Snapper Carr.

“No Legion of Doom this time guys,” answered the Silencer, reading the data. “It seems we have a large meteor, maybe the size of about three city blocks heading straight towards earth. If that thing hits, it could destroy an area the size of New York City.”

“Not to worry, I will blow that thing out of the sky,” Argos said, turning to exit the Hall.

Nightvision quickly grabbed the son of Orion by the shoulder, “Are you crazy? You blow that thing up and you’ll send house-size chunks of rock down on this planet. All you’ll accomplish is spreading the damage rather than leaving it to a confined area.”

“We’ve got to do something,” insisted Firebrand.

“The meteor seems to have come out of nowhere,” reported the Silencer. “Either our early warning system failed or it popped out of some space-warp. It’s close to entering earth’s atmosphere now.”

“Looks like the search for our teammates will have to wait. Let’s go give that rock a warm welcome,” ordered Nightvision as he headed for the hanger. “I’ll fire up the Bat-rocket. Blackbird and I will meet you guys in the upper atmosphere.”

“Nightvision, the Flash and Stellar just checked in, they’re on their way,” advised the Silencer.

“Figure out where the meteor would hit and ask them to start evacuating the area,” requested Nightvision.

“Tell you what…” began Blackbird, “I’m not going to be doing much good playing co-pilot so you go with Argos, Firebrand, and White Wraith. I’ll take the Nightcruiser and meet up with the Flash and Stellar.”

“Sounds good,” Nightvision said as he quickly kissed Blackbird goodbye.

As the heroes were about the exit, Dark Arrow walked in.

“Arrow – perfect timing,” greeted Nightvision. “We’ve got a giant meteor heading towards earth. We could use your support on the evacuation team.”

“I’m here to help search for my sister. Nothing else takes precedence,” the young archer stated firmly. “I almost lost Di Di once, I’m not about to let it happen for real this time.” Dark Arrow made his way over to the computer, “Take a break Silencer, I’ve got it from here.”

“No breaks allowed until we find our friends, the nephew of Snapper Carr responded as he kept on working.

“Whose rule is that?” asked Dark Arrow.

“Mine,” replied the Silencer, a bit coldly.

Moments later, the Batrocket streaked into the sky quickly followed by Argos, Firebrand, and the White Wraith while Blackbird fired up the Nightcruiser to rendezvous with the Flash and Stellar.





***

Minutes later in the upper atmosphere…

Nightvision spoke into his Titans of Justice communicator, “The Batrocket’s scanners show we’re almost in range now. A few more minutes and we should be able to see the meteor.”

“I can see it,” Argos revealed. His enhanced eyesight already had a lock on the large rock. “It is approaching with great speed. That is about to change!” he said zooming past the others.

“What’s he doing?” asked Firebrand, a bit frantic.

“I fear, biting off even more than he can chew,” commented the White Wraith, racing after his gung-ho teammate.

Argos flew towards the meteor like a freshly fired bullet. Slamming into the rock, he outstretched his arms in an attempt to halt the rock’s descent. Straining every muscle in his body, he did his best to try and buy his newfound friends some extra time. “Arrrghhh!!!” he grumbled as he asked his Grandmother Box to neutralize the pain sensors in his nerves. Veins began bulging all over his body as sweat poured down his face.

“Even you’re not strong enough to stop this meteor from falling,” the White Wraith said as he joined Argos in trying to hold back the rock. “Surely you know that.”

“I don’t have to stop it, just delay it,” barked Argos, continuing to struggle.

“Look at the size of that thing!” Firebrand yelled as she and Nightvision came into range.

“I’m more interested in the color,” Nightvision said, suspiciously.

“Color? What does that matter?” said the sister of Rod Reilly.

“It’s GREEN,” stated Nightvision.

***

Back on the ground…

Blackbird sped along the Metropolis turnpike, in an attempt to get out of the city when a voice came through her communicator.

“Blackbird – Silencer here. Turn yourself around immediately.”

“Why? Did Nightvision and the others stop the rock already?” assumed the female vigilante.

“No. It’s changed course. It’s heading straight towards the Hall of Justice. We’ve got to help clear out the city in case our friends aren’t able to stop it.”

“It’s heading towards the Hall?” Blackbird repeated in disbelief. “This is obviously someone’s attempt to get rid of us.”

“You catch on quick,” replied the Silencer. “Dark Arrow, the Wonder Twins, the Flash, and I have already started the evacuation process. Stellar should be here any minute. Do your best to help the law enforcement officials clear everyone out of the city. I’ve just notified the mayor of the situation. He’ll be broadcasting live on both TV and radio in a few seconds. Silencer out.”

“Looks like I may have a shorter tenure as a hero than Stephanie Brown did as Robin,” Blackbird thought to herself as she slammed on the breaks of the Nightcruiser and swung it back around in order to head back towards the heart of he city.

***

Ten minutes later…

Blackbird found her way to downtown Metropolis. There was mass hysteria consuming the city. People were running and screaming for their lives. Cars jam-packed all of the roads leading out of the city.

Over the next half-hour, the girlfriend of Brendon Grayson did her best to help direct traffic, prevent fender-benders, and keep the motoring public as calm as possible. “Boy, whoever said fighting super-villains was the hardest part of a hero’s job? These people are all driving like lunatics.”

“You think that’s bad,” the new Flash said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, “Stellar and I just had to stop a guy in a garbage truck driving through the park trying to take a short-cut.”





“Yeah and he wasn’t going to stop until the Flash here siphoned all of the gas out of his truck at super-speed,” Stellar said as he floated down to join the two ladies.





Considering that he was blindly headed for two old ladies strolling down the park trails ahead of him, I didn’t see any other choice,” commented the Flash whimsically.

As the heroes continued to converse, their friends up above were locked in what seemed to be a no-win situation.

“What good will delaying the rock’s descent do?” Firebrand asked inquisitively.

“The slower it falls…” grunted Argos, “the more of it will burn up.”

“Oh, right,” Firebrand commented, humbly, “Well I can certainly help with that but the question is, can you two handle the heat?

“I have braved the fire-pits of Apokolips, do not hold back woman!” stressed Argos

“And I am immune to the sensations of hot and cold so you need not worry about me,” added the White Wraith.

Firebrand wasted no time in pouring on the flames, in hopes of burning off whatever amount of the rock she could.

“Guys, we’ve got to get rid of his rock somehow rather than just dump it somewhere,” started Nightvision, “The Bat-rocket’s sensors show that it’s one hundred percent Green Kryptonite. The rock’s path to Metropolis is no coincidence. Whoever is behind this is trying to take out Power Guy.”

“This is going too slow, I’m maybe burning off a few inches every minute at most,” grumbled Firebrand, a bit discouraged. “It’s just too big for my flames to shrink it significantly.”

“I have an idea that may solve half of our problem,” Argos said, piquing his teammates’ curiosity. “Wait a minute. White Wraith, I notice your hands seem to be emitting some kind of strange energy.”

“That is correct,” confirmed the White Wraith. “Anything I am in physical contact with becomes ghostly matter. If this rock wasn’t so big, I could perhaps make it pass right through the earth.”


“Well then, my idea may just solve our entire problem,” Argos stated, confidently. “Nightvision, is your rocket equipped with artillery shells?”

“Of course,” answered Nightvision, “But they’re hardly enough to blow this rock into dust.”

“Hear me out,” requested the son of Orion, “I am going to fire a full-force blast of the Astro Force at the center of the rock. I need you to launch your entire arsenal at the very same point. If we can split this rock in half and blow off a significant chunk of it, Firebrand and the White Wraith should be able to take care of the rest. What do the rest of you think?”

“Do it!” shouted Firebrand in hopes this idea of Argos would work.

“This sounds feasible,” agreed the White Wraith.

“On three?” suggested Nightvision.

At the count of three, Nightvision fired the Batrocket’s lasers while Argos let out a searing blast of the Astro Force aimed at the center of the meteor.

CRACK!

The meteor was split in half like an apple.

“Ugh….” sighed Argos as he began to feel weak. Releasing a full-force blast of the Astro Force had left him extremely fatigued. Suddenly, he dropped from the sky and started to plummet towards the ground.

“Argos!” screamed Firebrand out of concern as she started to fly after him.

“Firebrand! Turn around!” ordered Nightvision. “Argos will live but a lot of people won’t if you don’t burn up your portion of the rock!”

Argos was seconds away from smashing into the ground, but then when all hope seemed lost, Sturmer came up from behind the falling New God and used his teeth to grab him by the back of his shirt thereby halting his descent. Sturmer promptly landed on the ground and laid his master down to rest.

Argos opened his eyes wearily and smiled, “Good boy…”

Up in the sky, Firebrand was having difficulty burning up the rock fast enough, “It’s still so huge, my flames are melting it but I’m afraid that there will still be a large chunk left by the time it hits the ground,” she said to herself.

“Then let me help you with that,” Stellar said, flying past Firebrand towards the other end of the rock. “I’ll take this side, you concentrate on the other!” he said, firing a stream of “shooting stars” that came out with the intensity of a machine gun. In less than a minute the fragment of rock was reduced to smoldering ash.

Meanwhile, the White Wraith was working diligently to cover his portion of the rock with his “ghostly matter”. “I’ve only got a third left but it is getting too close to ground,” he said in a bit of panic.

“White Wraith!” called out the Flash, “Nightvision filled me in on the plan, Keep doing what you’re doing. I should be able to keep the rock aloft while you finish your job,” she said as she ran faster than the speed of sound in a circular motion, creating a giant red tornado. While the twister was not strong enough to halt the rock’s fall, it was slowing it down significantly.

The White Wraith took full advantage of the extra time the Flash bought him and quickly finish his work. His portion of the rock was fully covered with his “ghostly matter” and passed effortlessly through the earth as it continued to fall.

“That stuff you coated the rock with was creepy,” commented the Flash. “What was it?”

“You could not comprehend exactly what it is so just think of it as ghostly matter,” answered the White Wraith, grimly.

With their tasks completed, the heroes all headed back to the Hall of Justice.

“Am I glad that’s over,” sighed Blackbird. “Some of the motoring public are worse than the Joker.”

“It’s not over yet, we still need to figure out who sent that giant piece of Kryptonite our way,” added a determined Nightvision.

Just then, the Silencer interrupted Nightvision as he came through on his Titans of Justice Communicator. “Hey Nightvision – it’s Silencer. Tell everyone good job on taking care of that meteor. Now come on home. There are some people waiting to see you.”

“Who’s there?” Nightvision asked curiously.

“Our missing friends,” answered the nephew of Snapper Carr. “Turns out they took a little trip to the thirtieth century and boy do they have a tale to tell.”


***

Darkseid’s throne-room, Apokolips…

Darkseid stood in front of the large monitor-screen in the room, “General Steppenwolf, proceed with your report.”





“Lord Darkseid, the Titans of Justice have successfully destroyed the asteroid before it could do any damage to the earth or the Kryptonians.”

“What?” bellowed Darkseid in anger. “How is this possible???”

“It turns out that Power Guy is in space on a mission while Superman and the others are residing in his lead-lined Fortress of Solitude,” reported Steppenwolf.

“I do not tolerate failure General Steppenwolf,” barked Darkseid. “When you return, you shall spend forty-eight hours in Granny Goodness’ torture-chamber.”

“Yes, sire,” bowed Steppenwolf, ashamed and afraid as he signed off.

Darkseid then turned his attention to Desaad, “Summon Granny Goodness at once!”

“I’m sorry Lord Darkseid,” shivered Desaad, “but she’s away putting your next plan into action.”

“Fine! Have her report to me immediately upon her return,” ordered the Lord of Apokolips.

***

The cell of Fausta, Paradise Island….

“What is taking Bonda so long to bring me today’s paper?” grumbled Fausta. “Perhaps that swine, Queen Diana, is punishing me for escaping the island to work with Chronos. Why did I ever agree to work with that pathetic little man. I should have snapped his neck like a twig when he first appeared before me. From now on, the Fuhrer is the only man I will listen to and if he is truly dead, then there is no man that shall commandeer over Fausta.

Just then Fausta noticed that sphere of light appeared in her cell. Someone appeared to be stepping through it. This person was a large, bulky woman, dressed in some kind of battle armor.

“Vas is dis?” questioned Fausta, a bit irritated.

The buff, armored figure spoke to Fausta, “You may not take orders from a man ever again but you will respect your Granny.”